Falls in elderly patients are a major concern for both families and medical professionals, as fall-induced injuries are the most common types of injuries and are now considered to be the eighth leading cause of death in adults aged 65 or older. The CDC reports that more than one-third of U.S. adults aged 65 and over fall at least once each year. About 10% of all falls result in fractures, while a fifth of the reported cases require immediate medical attention. Untreated falls can result in a number of adverse outcomes, from death due to cerebral hemorrhaging (for those taking blood thinner medications) to the loss of mobility and depression from late treatment of fractures. For the elderly, medical examination and treatment after a fall is an extremely time-sensitive matter, which is why fall detection is one of the most studied methods of improving the safety of the older population, especially those living on their own.
Currently, there are a number of user-activated commercial devices available on the market, where the user has to press a button to alert an emergency response center. The effectiveness of these devices, however, is limited by the ability of the patient to remain conscious after a heavy fall.
About one-third of adults in the United States aged 65 or older fall every year, with 20% of the reported fall cases needing prompt medical attention. Although a number of approaches for detecting falls have been proposed over the past few years, all of the methods have a trade-off between detection accuracy, processing power requirements, and the level of intrusiveness.